This invention relates to a grinding fluid feeder apparatus for use in a grinding operation in which the tooth surfaces of a spiral bevel gear are ground.
A grinding fluid feeding method generally used in a conventional grinding machine of this kind is such that a grinding fluid or oil is sprayed from outside of the grinding wheel through a nozzle onto the workpiece. Another known method as disclosed by, for example, the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Tokkaisho No. 59-19246 is such that, as shown in FIG. 5, a grinding fluid c is fed through a nozzle d into a recess portion b of a grinding wheel a so as to let the fluid flow out onto a portion of a workpiece to be ground.
In either of the above prior art methods, the grinding fluid can easily fly or scatter outwardly with the centrifugal force of rotation of the grind stone or grinding wheel, or by wind pressure from that rotation, so that the quantity of the fluid reaching the portion being ground is relatively smaller as compared with the actually supplied quantity thereof. This often results in such disadvantages as a grinding scorch on the workpiece and/or a shorter service life of the grinding wheel.
The present invention has for its object to provide a grinding fluid feeder apparatus capable of overcoming the foregoing disadvantages and thereby stabilizing quality of a workpiece ground and performance of a grinding wheel.